Lentiviruses (LVs) designed to deliver transgenic cargo (e.g., a protein coding sequence or an shRNA) are valuable tools in basic research, bioproduction, and therapeutic delivery. In order to generate these valuable reagents, researchers generally introduce a transfer vector (encoding the desired transgenic viral genome to be packaged) along with one or more packaging vectors (that produce essential viral proteins) into an appropriate packaging cell line (e.g. HEK 293 cells). The inventors have recognized that the current set of reagents and protocols is highly inefficient and that new methods are needed to develop sufficient quantities of viral particles. For this reason, the following invention describes novel and non-obvious sets of reagents and processes for greatly enhancing LV production.